FOR GOOD MEASURE?

Every once in a while somebody like Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando or Delta Burke gets fat. Instantly a mass discussion ensues regarding the rights of fat people to exist, wear certain types of clothing, eat in public, have sex lives, enjoy ice cream or be on television. While in the short term this may make thin people feel better by allowing them to forget their own frailties, in the long run it is damaging to all of us. None of us is physically perfect, and that rare person who is will invariably become “imperfect” with age. Rather than being hypercritical of ourselves and others, we should enjoy the diversity that gives us our breadth and richness.

“For Good Measure,” by Paddy Calistro (Looks, April 8), is, I think, a good example of our mentality. Now, it seems, the flavor of the month is very large breasts. Normal, healthy women with average or slightly smaller-than-average breasts are subjecting themselves to the risks of an operative procedure so that they can look like some busty model (who may also have had breast augmentations). What will women with large breasts do when flat-chested models come back in vogue? The irony of all of this is that thin women tend to have smaller breasts. Let’s be happy with ourselves and accepting of others. Sooner or later your height, weight, hair color, breast size or age will be in vogue.

NICOLAS S. VEACO, Westwood